7 Sneaky And Subtle Signs You Could Have High-Functioning Depression

Because depression doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t meet your responsibilities

You have trouble getting up in the morning. Sometimes it feels like you’re just going through the motions. But you can almost always push through and finish your work, figure out dinner, and play with your kids. Because you can still get these basics done, there’s no way you could be depressed…right? The case for high-functioning depression says this isn’t necessarily so. Just because high-functioning depression doesn’t look or feel the way someone might expect it to, doesn’t mean it isn’t real, or not worth addressing.

“High-functioning depression” isn’t an official diagnosis but more of a colloquial term. People with high-functioning depression meet some of the criteria for a depressive disorder listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) — the book clinicians use to officially diagnose mental health conditions — but they can appear completely healthy and meet daily responsibilities.

As the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 322 million people — about the population of the U.S. — depression surfaces throughout many countries, cultures, and life circumstances. Because of this, there’s no way it could look the same for everyone, says Alejandro Martinez, a therapist based in Ohio.

“Unfortunately, media and society often says, ‘If you have depression, you have no energy, you’re sad, you’re stuck in your room all day,’” Martinez says. “But mental health is just much more complex than that.”

It’s impossible to cleanly divide people with depressive… – Read Article –